Qobuz Overhauls Its Music Player And Adds Real-Time Lyrics

Qobuz just overhauled its music player and added some long-requested features. First and foremost, the app now displays real-time lyrics. This has been a sticking point for some, as most other major platforms have offered this service for years. The lyrics scroll “line by line” alongside translations.

The interface has been completely redesigned, with inspiration pulled from “the colors and visual aesthetics of album artwork.” The updated miniplayer always stays on the screen as users navigate, offering playback control while poking around the app. The play queue has been updated, with more nuanced control options.

There’s a new Explore section that gives people similar albums, artists, radio stations and playlists to what they normally listen to. Content can also now be separated by genre or even record label.

The credits section has been redesigned, with “more accessible information about the works and artists.” This section also lets people follow affiliated artists or record labels directly from the credits page. Finally, there’s Siri integration for voice control. These updates (excluding Siri, obviously) are currently available to users on both iOS and Android.

Qobuz is one of our favorite music-streaming services. It really seems to care about the artists that populate the service, at least more so than the competition. Albums come with liner-notes-like reviews, there’s an integrated magazine that interviews up-and-coming musicians and the app prioritizes full albums instead of algorithmically-decided singles (though it also does that.)

The biggest piece for artists, however, comes down to pay. Qobuz is one of the better paying streamers out there. Previous data suggested a per-stream rate of $0.043. At the time of that calculation, in 2023, artists would accrue $1,000 from just over 23,000 streams. As a comparison, it would take over 312,000 streams on Spotify to garner that amount. Qobuz also lets people buy albums and songs directly from the app, which is pretty cool. Subscription prices range from $12 to $15 per month, depending on the tier, though there is a free 30-day trial.